Body in the Woods

Carlos Jacobi, Book 1

By: Dawn Brookes

Narrated by: Tim Bruce

A peaceful village. A buried secret. Will the hunt turn deadly? Private investigator Carlos Jacobi is looking forward to a peaceful Christmas in the Peak District with his sister and his beloved dog. But when the ex-police dog unearths the body of an elderly man in the local woods and an old enemy turns out to be the lead investigator, he's forced to make a decision. Either he leaves his incompetent nemesis to jump to the wrong conclusion or he gets involved. When the victim's family ask for assistance, his resolve weakens and he's soon investigating a strange murder. With fractured relationships and family secrets, Carlos discovers villagers are not what they seem. When another body shows up, and Carlos is attacked, things go from bad to worse. Bad blood between him and the lead investigator threatens to cloud the investigation as neither man can bury the past. Working with an old friend helps keep him focused. Can the canny investigator sift through the lies to get to the truth? Body in the Woods is the first in a twisty new series featuring private eye, Carlos Jacobi. If you like dogged detectives, twists you don't see coming and likeable sleuths, you'll love this man and his dog murder mystery.

©2020 Dawn Brookes (P)2021 Dawn Brookes

Enjoyable read

Though I had ideas on “who dunnot,”. Ms. Brookes surprised me in the end. Great characters and just enough intrigue!!

Great mystery story!

I really enjoyed this story. I did receive it free for review, but I'm also going to be watching out for more books to come in this series. I enjoyed the narration and the characters were laid out very well. Lady the dog may have been the true hero here! This book was an easy listen and I kept coming back as often as I could. this was the first book I've listened to from this author, but I'll definitely be following for more and check out some of her other stuff as well.

Absolute joy

Body in the Woods is simply literary joy in an audio book. I get ridiculously excited when a character in a book, in this case Carlos, alludes to a character in another book, (Rachel Prince from Ms Brookes awesome cruise series). I'm all overcome knowing that we have a mutual friend. It is a perfect example of how superb the characters are as I feel like I know them in real life. When the book's main player has a life which includes friends and family I am delighted. I'm so fed up of characters who are lone wolves, living in splendid isolation.
The dialogue in this book was brilliant and I felt the warmth between Carlos and Sophie in their interactions. The story was totally absorbing and kept me guessing from beginning to end. Tim Bruce narrates the tale with finesse and precision and adds another layer of pleasure to an already thoroughly enjoyable book.
And no review of Body in the Woods would be complete without a reference to Lady. You will be entranced by the story and fall in love with the characters. The most perfect gift.

Enjoyed!! Highly Recommend.

I so enjoyed this book which I received as a promo in exchange for an honest review. It was really good and I found myself listening when I walked my pups, did housework, drove, and cooked-any chance I could get. The author has created likable characters that you care about. She developed the characters in such a way that you “get them” almost immediately. The story line had enough twists and turns that I couldn’t guess “whodunit” and I love that. I’m pretty good but she bested me. The narration was spot on also. Very engaging and interesting book. I’m so glad it’s a series. Highly recommend.

No body can hide from this retired police dog!

Carlos Jacobi is a fun private detective to follow around in this British murder mystery. He’s visiting his sister Sophie and her husband (Brian?) for the holidays. It’s time to walk the dog, Lady, and there’s some lovely woods nearby. You can guess who gets the most excited over finding a dead body – Lady the ex-police dog, that’s who! Brian, who is pretty squeamish, easily looses his lunch. Carlos is immediately intrigued because he’s a snoopy investigator.

That beginning caught my attention right away and the story held my attention. Carlos doesn’t get along with the official police, DCI Masters, who is leading the investigation. There’s a lot of hints that they have history, but that’s never filled out. In fact, at times I felt that perhaps this was book 2 in the series and if I had started with book 1, I would understand their dynamic better. But, no, this is indeed book 1 in the series. So their troubled relationship is still mostly a mystery.

While DCI Masters bumbles around, Carlos chats up the widow and the adult daughter (Caroline). He also confides in his friend Fiona (who is also on the police force). I really liked Fiona because she’s so comfortable and confident in her Rubenesque body. I also like how she’s willing to risk her professional career to help Carlos.

The story gets a new twist when yet another body turns up but this one is decades long past it’s freshness date. At this point in the story, the suspects got really narrow and while the tale tried to keep the red herrings and suspense going, I had guessed the whodunit. Still, I was surprised with what Carlos decided to do with that info, and I applauded him for it. I also applaud Fiona for trusting Carlos’s judgement. All together, it was a solid start to a British murder mystery series. 4/5 stars.

The Narration: Tim Bruce was a good choice for this book. He had a great voice for Carlos, who has a mild Italian accent. I also liked his female voices and he had a variety of voices and accents, keeping all the characters unique. The pacing was good and there were tech issues for this recording. 5/5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book. My opinions are 100% my own.